The game of baseball has seen a revolution in technology in the last decade, and it has changed the game in many ways. Terms like Launch Angle and spin rate have become household terms, and Front Offices are relying more on computer-driven data than ever before. 

But the more things change, sometimes, the more they stay the same. 

The Dodgers have an unwavering ability to find guys with elite tangible arm talent who also carry elite intangible qualities that stand out the most. Landon Knack is a young pitcher in the Dodgers organization that checks every box and has a bright future, and is hoping that good health is headed his way.

Knack’s Background

Knack grew up in Johnson City, Tennessee in the North-East corner of the Rocky Top state, and was a standout 2-way player at Science Hill High School. After having torn his labrum diving into a base as a Senior, Knack didn’t throw in the 90s like he does now and wanted to focus mainly on being a position player coming out of High School and chose Walters State Community College where he had a tremendous 2-way career. In his Sophomore year as a Hilltopper, he was 13-0 on the mound and hit .343 with 11 home runs and 37 RBI.

As a result, he was named the 2018 TCCAA Pitcher of the Year, 2nd Team All-American, and JBB Two-Way Player of the Year. Knack had a great experience at Walters State. 

In High School I was more of a 2 way player so I went Juco to get more exposure and I started pitching again after my first year at Walters and had some success and some people started recruiting me but I alway loved ETSU because it was my home. But, what sold me a lot on ETSU was their pitching coach at the time who is at Dallas Baptist now, Micah Posey. He absolutely sold me on ETSU and the dude was awesome and I knew he could help me a lot getting to the next level and he definitely did.

At East Tennessee State the Johnson City native became one of the best pitchers in America and won his first 8 decisions as a Buc in 2019 and finished near the top of most statistical categories of the Southern Conference. The young right-hander used that momentum and carried it into 2020 where he got off to a 4-0 start, had 51 strikeouts, 1 walk, an ERA of 1.08 and he led the nation in strikeouts.

He also set a single-game school record for strikeouts with 16 against Wagner and he set or tied a new career-high in K’s in every one of his outings.

He also pitched 3 shutouts and was amongst the Nation’s leaders in WHIP, BB/9 H/9, and ERA.

D1 ranked him as one of the top 5 pitchers in America, so, needless to say, when Covid ended in 2020, it was disappointing for the young star pitcher. 

We got out of the gates real hot and we were getting rolling I remember we were halfway to UNC Wilmington and their Friday guy was another draft prospect so we had a fun matchup coming up, but then we got halfway there and had to turn around and come home.  With a Landon Knack smile, he added: It was pretty disappointing because I had my eyes set on a couple of the single-season records, but I didn’t get a chance to go for them. 

Featuring Landon Knack

Knack was eventually drafted by the Dodgers in the 2nd Round of the 2020 draft, a draft which only had 5 rounds, and, thus, included just the “Cream of the Crop.” 

As with most Dodger pitching prospects, the first feature of Knack’s skill set is that he is a big-time power arm with a fastball that ranges from 93-to 96. As you can see in the video below, he likes to “ride” his fastball up in the zone to take advantage of the high spin rate of that pitch.

He also can locate his fastball down in the zone, and when he does it has good “carry” so he’s able to keep it in the zone around the knees instead of having it sink out of the zone.

Knack also shapes 2 different types of breaking balls.  I like to use the term “shape” to supplement the terms slider, curveball, etc…because the latter terms are so subjective. What some call cutters, others call sliders, etc. His 12-6 shaped breaking ball ranges from 80-85 and has a ton of downward break. It can be used as a “get me over” to get ahead in counts, or it can be used to spin out of the zone to entice swing and miss strikeouts.

Adding to his arsenal is a “3-9” shaped slider that sits at 86-89, so it is a power pitch.

To round out the arsenal of Landon Knack, I saved what he considers his most “important” pitch which is his changeup. His changeup is his most important pitch, in my opinion, because hitters can’t differentiate between it and his fastball, and, it tumbles, A LOT! So he is able to get the same kind of downward movement with his change-up as he does with his curveball, but with no identifiable spin or differing arm slot for a hitter to recognize. To hitters, his change-up will look identical to his fastball, but will then fall off the table. Also, it provides a significant difference in speed from his fastball so he can use it to keep hitters off balance.

Knack entered last year, 2022, as one of the highest-rated prospects in the system, and for very good reason, he has 4 very good pitches. But, dating back to his labrum injury and continuing through last year, he’s had to endure stops and starts. So, because of that factor, he enters this year hoping for good health and ultra motivated to get back to the pitcher that put him towards the top of prospects lists.  As long as he can stay healthy, there’s no reason to think he won’t either because he is a 4-pitch power pitcher, and all 4 pitches have the potential to be ++++ pitches.

He has great composure, has a great demeanor to him, and has learned the art of pitching with emotion but not being emotional. Hopefully, now you have a good idea why the Dodgers drafted him in the 2nd round and are excited about his future